It’s a week of derbies for Atlético de Madrid and they’ve won the first of them thanks to three goals from Julián Álvarez. Those goals, including a thunderous 88th-minute strike from distance, earned Los Rojiblancos a 3-2 victory over neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday night in Matchday 6 of the 2025/26 LALIGA EA SPORTS season. Click this link https://a.meridianbet.ke/c/C7pYjz to start gaming and stand a chance of winning big with Meridianbet.
With Rayo Vallecano having taken a 2-1 lead through Álvaro García in the 77th minute, the situation looked bleak for Los Colchoneros. But that’s when Álvarez pounced to equalise from a yard out, before thundering in the winner from over 30 metres away.
It had been a very difficult start to the campaign for Atleti, and this was just their second win so far. With Real Madrid next up at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, at 16:15 CEST on Saturday, this was a much-needed three-point haul for Diego Simeone’s side.
Álvarez himself understood the importance of his two late goals. Speaking after the match, he said: “We needed to get the three points and build confidence by winning. We have been playing well, but fine margins mean we haven’t been getting the results. We have to keep working hard to build a winning streak. We need to rest now and focus on the match we’re going to play at home in front of our fans next. It’s going to be a great spectacle and we’ll give everything to take all three points.”

Atlético de Madrid’s “best player”
Álvarez has lived up to the hype since his arrival in the summer of 2024. With 33 goals and nine assists in 63 appearances, he is delivering at the tip of Atlético de Madrid’s attack. This was his first hat-trick for the club, but he has scored several important goals already.
Simeone is delighted with the performances he has seen from his compatriot, and didn’t hesitate to single out the striker as the best footballer at the club. In his post-match press conference after Rayo Vallecano, the coach said: “It’s clear that Julián is the best player we have. We need him to stay at Atlético de Madrid for many years and for that we have to help him and he has to help us.”
On Saturday, in ELDERBI DE MADRID, Álvarez is expected to lead the line once again for Atleti, and he’ll hope to add to his goals tally against Real Madrid. Over his career he has faced Los Blancos seven times and scored three goals. One of those goals was when he netted in a Champions League victory while at Manchester City, before he scored in two separate derbies last season.
His most famous moment against Real Madrid, though, was surely the “double touch” penalty in the shootout during last season’s Champions League. It was ruled that the Argentinian touched the ball twice before rippling the net during the two teams’ Last 16 tie, sparking a debate that is still rumbling on. This weekend, at the same venue and against the same opponent, he’ll hope to put the ball in the back of the net and leave no doubts. He’ll hope for a second derby victory of the week.